My soundcard doesn't have six mono inputs. It has a set of stereo
inputs. 90% of the music is being generated by software synths. But I
also need to send the stereo signal of one hardware synth to the
soundcard. Maybe at some point I'd like to also be able to send a set
of stereo acoustic signals (2 mics) to the soundcard as well. So I'd
like to have a mixer with at least 2 mic inputs/preamps, and at least
one set of stereo inputs to connect the hardware synth. And I need to
be able to monitor the output of the soundcard without it feeding back
into the mix and creating a feedback loop.

If I understand the way the mixers I'm looking at work, it appears that
if I connect the outputs of the soundcard to the "Tape" or "2TK" ins on
the mixer and press the "Tape to Phones" or "2TK to Phones" or "Tape to
CTRL RM" (depending on model) switch, (and do NOT press the Tape to Mix
switch) I will be hear the output of the soundcard instead of the mix
that is being sent to the soundcard and the signal from the soundcard
will not be mixed in with the mix that is being sent to the soundcard
thus avoiding the feedback loop. Is that correct?


Mike Rivers wrote:
toronado455 wrote:

I need the mixer in order to create a
small mix of instruments that will be sent to the inputs of the
computer soundcard. That part I'm pretty sure I understand how to do.
But I also need to be able to monitor the output of the soundcard
itself, seperate from the mix that is being sent into the soundcard.
Can I do both these tasks with the same mixer?

You can, with many mixers, but understand that your real mixing will be
done in your computer. Ethan Winer has an article on his web page about
setting up a small mixer with a simple sound card so that you can hear
what you're doing.
http://www.ethanwiner.com/mixer2daw.html

There are other ways of doing it, and there are other approaches that
don't use a mixer, and there are "sound cards" that provide this
function and are intended to use without a mixer if you're recording
just one part at a time.

One of these days, Mackie will get around to publishing the ultimate
mixer reference that I wrote for them a few years back. Until then,
you'll have to scramble, buy a few wrong things, work around your
problems, and learn how signals get from an input to an output and what
happens in between. That's what it's all about, and you CAN learn that
sort of thing with a small and inexpensive mixer. But don't buy too
small.